North Korea reportedly searching homes and confiscating foreign music

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un waves to the crowd during a military parade at Kim Il-Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27, 2013. North Korea mounted its largest ever military parade on July 27 to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War, displaying its long-range missiles at a ceremony presided over by leader Kim Jong-Un. AFP PHOTO / Ed Jones (Photo credit should read Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
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A pop group from Slovenia were recently announced as the first foreign band to perform in the country

Reports claim that officials in North Korea are going house-to-house, searching for banned music.

The country – officially named the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – are notoriously adverse to outside influence, previously banning their citizens from owning or listening to any foreign music.

Now, as online news source Daily NK reports, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered members of his Inminban neighbourhood units to search local homes in their area.

A source told the South Korea-based publication: “The local propaganda departments are getting Inminban heads to collect cassettes and CDs from people’s homes and are combing through them. If even one song from the banned list is discovered, they incinerate the whole thing.”

The individual also claimed that the searches have “led to fights between residents and authorities”, adding: “Some women have gotten so angry that they’ve stormed into the local propaganda offices complaining that [the authorities] incinerated their goods without even telling them”.

It has also been reported that the Korean Workers’ Party Propaganda and Agitation Department have added to their list of banned music.

Earlier this month, it was reported that a Slovenian pop group will become the first foreign band to perform in North Korea.

The group, Laibach, will play two concerts in the capital of Pyongyang during August. BBC News reports that the band have been criticised by some for their use of nationalist imagery, while others have claimed their military uniforms are a critique of totalitarianism.
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